Diamond Fields Resources Inc. acquisition target Moydow Holdings Ltd. has released a maiden mineral resource prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 for the Labola gold project in Burkina Faso. As described in the press release of Aug. 25, 2021, Diamond Fields has entered into definitive agreements to acquire Moydow which has an option to own 100 per cent of the project.
Highlights:
Indicated resource of 5.41 million tonnes at an average grade of 1.52 grams per tonne gold for a total 264,000 ounces of gold and inferred resource of 6.93 million tonnes at an average grade of 1.67 g/t Au for a total of 371,000 ounces of gold;The mineral resource estimate (MRE) was estimated using ordinary kriging methodologies, standard estimation practices and constrained by an open-pit evaluation based on a $1,900 (U.S.) per ounce gold price and reported using a cut-off grade of 0.5 gram of gold per tonne;The MRE is based upon a total of 69,787 metres (m) of drilling from 566 drill holes which includes the recent Moydow, confirmatory, twin and infill drilling of 4,739 m for 31 holes (23 twin holes);Three mineralized zones have been outlined from the various drilling programs and each zone is open in all directions. Extensive target generative work demonstrates many opportunities for resource expansion which include extensions to the current pit-constrained resources, zones with only widely spaced drilling, extensions of known mineralized zones with no drilling, untested artisanal sites and potentially new mineralized zones indicated by geophysical and geochemical anomalies;The company’s future exploration and development programs, following completion of the transaction as defined in the Diamond Fields press release of Aug. 25, 2021, will focus on resource expansion opportunities with a view to producing an updated MRE and completion of a preliminary economic assessment.
- Indicated resource of 5.41 million tonnes at an average grade of 1.52 grams per tonne gold for a total 264,000 ounces of gold and inferred resource of 6.93 million tonnes at an average grade of 1.67 g/t Au for a total of 371,000 ounces of gold;
- The mineral resource estimate (MRE) was estimated using ordinary kriging methodologies, standard estimation practices and constrained by an open-pit evaluation based on a $1,900 (U.S.) per ounce gold price and reported using a cut-off grade of 0.5 gram of gold per tonne;
- The MRE is based upon a total of 69,787 metres (m) of drilling from 566 drill holes which includes the recent Moydow, confirmatory, twin and infill drilling of 4,739 m for 31 holes (23 twin holes);
- Three mineralized zones have been outlined from the various drilling programs and each zone is open in all directions. Extensive target generative work demonstrates many opportunities for resource expansion which include extensions to the current pit-constrained resources, zones with only widely spaced drilling, extensions of known mineralized zones with no drilling, untested artisanal sites and potentially new mineralized zones indicated by geophysical and geochemical anomalies;
- The company’s future exploration and development programs, following completion of the transaction as defined in the Diamond Fields press release of Aug. 25, 2021, will focus on resource expansion opportunities with a view to producing an updated MRE and completion of a preliminary economic assessment.
“The completion of the maiden mineral resource is a major milestone in the progression of the Labola project and is a testament to the work completed by the Moydow technical team over the last year. The positive results contained in the mineral resource estimate confirm our belief that Labola is a highly prospective project and an exceptional opportunity for future development. Labola is a project with shallow, open-pit resources of which 41 per cent of those currently delineated are in the indicated category. The project has over 30 kilometres of potential strike length along three mineralized zones and many walk-up drill targets which will enable rapid resource expansion. Diamond Fields would acquire, in addition to the maiden mineral resource, an extensive database of historical information which will allow the company to add value directly through the drill bit and supporting technical studies as we progress along the pathway to further development of the project,” commented Al Gourley, chairman of Diamond Fields.
The transaction, as defined in the initial news release, is subject to approval by the TSX Venture Exchange, required shareholder approvals and completion of satisfactory confirmatory due diligence by Diamond Fields. The transaction remains expected to close in the first quarter of 2022.
Moydow has estimated the amount of the resource that has been depleted by artisanal mining to be approximately 341,000 tonnes at three g/t Au. The quantity of mined material has been calculated from estimates of dump and leach pad volumes. The grade of the material mined has been estimated in the range of 1.5 to three g/t Au and is based on an evaluation of extensive rock chip, channel sampling of artisanal workings and selective sampling of adjacent dumps. The location of where the material has been mined from is not known with any degree of accuracy. As such, the artisanal mining has not been deducted from the mineral resource but noted here for reference.
Preliminary metallurgical results from historical metallurgical samples, supported by extensive LeachWELL (proprietary accelerated cyanide leach technique) data from Moydow drilling samples, indicate that gold is readily treatable by conventional cyanide leaching techniques after grinding to industry standard grind sizes of approximately 80 per cent passing 120 microns. Recoveries are in the range of 90 per cent and 98 per cent in the oxide zone and between 82 per cent and 93 per cent in the transition/sulphide zone.
The MRE for the Labola project has been prepared by Ivor W.O. Jones, MSc, FAusIMM, PGeo, of Aurum Consulting, who is an independent qualified person under National Instrument 43-101 guidelines. The maiden mineral resource and its preparation will be detailed in a technical report prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 to be filed on SEDAR within 45 days of this press release.
The MRE has been prepared using grades with top caps applied in a fairly standard-grade ordinary kriged estimation. Holes that had been twinned were removed, and replaced with the new drill data, but estimates also cross-checked with just the old data with very similar results. This provided significant confidence in the historical data. Validation included visual and statistical evaluations and considered to be good. Classification of the MRE was based on the guidelines of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum and NI 43-101 to define and report indicated and inferred resources for the project.
About Labola
The Labola gold exploration project is in the Banfora greenstone belt of the West African Birimian supergroup in southwest Burkina Faso. Labola is approximately 450 kilometres west-southwest of the capital, Ouagadougou, and 100 km northeast of the Wahgnion gold mine, operated by Endeavour Mining (Q2 2021 production of 41,000 ounces gold).
More than 65,500 m of historical drilling (541 holes) has been completed across multiple drilling campaigns by previous owners, High River Gold Mines Ltd. (HRG), later acquired by Nord Gold PLC, and Taurus Gold Ltd., consisting of principally diamond and reverse circulation drilling (24,589 m/39,339 m, respectively). Mineralization has been intercepted by historical drilling and outlined by previous artisanal mining in three main zones over a 10 km strike length.
Moydow has explored the area since August, 2020, including acquisition and compilation of all previous data into a single database, interpretation of these data, target generation using the database and all the acquired remote sensing information, a drilling program involving 23 twin holes and an additional six exploration and infill holes. The database of historical information has been audited, correctly coordinated and the twin drilling results demonstrate the validity of the previous data. The results of the Moydow drilling showed strong reproducibility of the HRG and Taurus drill data in both terms of location of mineralization and grade. Further, the brownfields exploration drilling showed good predictability of the location of mineralization in extensional drilling to the mineral resource. The HRG, Taurus and Moydow data were therefore taken as sufficiently accurate to be used in the estimation of the maiden MREs for Labola.
Gold mineralization at Labola is related to quartz veining, areas of silica alteration and disseminated pyrite. A previous ground induced polarization survey highlighted the coincidence between mineralized zones and high chargeability (sulphides) and resistivity (quartz veining and silicification) anomalies. This correlation outlines many additional opportunities for resource expansion drilling in the future.
In addition to the preparation of the maiden MRE, Moydow has compiled, integrated and assessed all the available information and outlined future exploration targets based on each of the main data sets. Based on this, Moydow selected targets and ranked them based on their perceived proceptivity as summarized:
Priority 1 – Taurus resource targets;Priority 2 – HRG resource targets;Priority 3 – mineralization extensions;Priority 4 – untested workings;Priority 5 – previous drill intercepts;Priority 6 – IP targets;Priority 7 – mineralization trend;Priority 8 – geochemical targets;Priority 9 – electromagnetic (EM) targets.
- Priority 1 – Taurus resource targets;
- Priority 2 – HRG resource targets;
- Priority 3 – mineralization extensions;
- Priority 4 – untested workings;
- Priority 5 – previous drill intercepts;
- Priority 6 – IP targets;
- Priority 7 – mineralization trend;
- Priority 8 – geochemical targets;
- Priority 9 – electromagnetic (EM) targets.
The main targets are along the major interpreted central shear system encompassing the three mineralized zones. There is also strong evidence that there are several subparallel, additional structures that also host significant gold mineralization as shown by artisanal workings. These targets can be considered as clearly defined for drill testing. Many of the targets are resource expansion opportunities as they are obvious extensions to identified resources and include areas with only widely spaced historical drilling. Additional targets include untested zones with artisanal workings and new zones as defined by soil geochemistry and/or induced polarization surveys. Labola therefore represents an advanced-exploration project with clearly defined drill targets that provide opportunities for exploration and resource expansion.
Technical information
Mr. Jones, BSc (hons), MSc, FAusIMM of Aurum Consulting. is an independent qualified person as defined under NI 43-101 and directly undertook the preparation and estimation of the October, 2021, maiden mineral resource estimate. Mr. Jones has reviewed and approved the contents of this press release. Mr. Jones has over 40 years of relevant experience in geology, exploration, mining, resource evaluation and management including operational and consulting experience in both open-pit and underground mines. He was previously a group general manager for Snowden Mining Industry Consultants where he was responsible for the company’s geoscience activities globally.
David J. Reading, MSc, FIMM, a director of Diamond Fields and a qualified person as defined under Canadian National Instrument 43 101 — Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, has prepared or supervised the preparation of, or approved, as applicable, the technical information contained in this press release. Mr. Reading has over 40 years experience in the mining industry covering all stages of mine development, including exploration, feasibility, financing, construction and operations. He has an MSc in Economic geology and is a fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and of the Society of Economic Geologists.
About Diamond Fields Resources Inc.
Diamond Fields Resources is a TSX Venture Exchange-listed exploration and mine development company with assets in Madagascar and Namibia. In Madagascar, Diamond Fields Resources is developing the Beravina project, an advanced high-grade hardrock zircon exploration prospect located in the west of the country, approximately 220 kilometres east of the port of Maintirano and close to a state road. Diamond Fields Resources acquired Beravina from Pala Investments and Austral Resources in 2016. In Namibia, the company owns several offshore diamond mining licences including the ML 111 concession, which has a 10-year mining licence, effective until Dec. 4, 2025.
About Moydow Holdings Ltd.
Moydow is a privately owned, British Virgin Islands-registered, West Africa-focused gold exploration business, which was formed in 2019 and subsequently in 2020 acquired, from AIM-listed Panthera Resources PLC, its interest in the Labola project (Burkina Faso), followed by the Kalaka (Mali) project interest in 2021. At closing Moydow will be controlled by Diamond Fields Resources. Moydow has interests in gold projects in West Africa: Labola in Burkina Faso, Kalaka in Mali, Dagma, Paimasa/Mint and Dext in Nigeria. Moydow has active exploration programs under way in all three countries.
